And He's Coming Back, Too: Advent #2

Advent isn't just about Jesus' first coming. He said over and over in different ways that he is returning. What will that mean for humanity? For each one of us? For the "dead in Christ" and all our relatives who have died in the past? Here's a half-a-thumbnail sketch:

We Are His Kids -- Advent #1

Advent is the time the Christian church celebrates the coming of our Savior. The basic story is that the Son of God willingly took our flesh into his own Person, becoming God-and-human, so he could experience our own lives just like us, live without any sin and willingly give himself, out of

Thoughts on Veteran's Day

In the Western World, November 11 is known as Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day or Veterans' Day. All of those have to do with remembering the devastation of war and our occasional relief that one of them is over. Today was no exception. I honor and appreciate

Children and Jesus and Welcoming

Jesus was impressed with children. Not because they knew how to do cartwheels, but because they approached the world without pretense, and accepted others at face value. In Matthew 18, Jesus calls a little child to him and says “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." More than that, Jesus said in verse 5, "And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Now, that is a big deal -- welcoming Jesus, personally,

How Do We Believe?

Do people become Jesus-followers because someone presents an argument, in a series of logical steps designed to convince them? Why do people begin to believe? Some of us are actively praying for others to believe, and some are actively involved in helping others believe, as best we can. So what is our part, if any, that we should be careful to follow?  Let's look.

"With Appreciation"

The Lovely Joanne just had a birthday, and she received cards from friends and family all over. It's been a blessing to be remembered by so many. She and I make it a practice to remember as many birthdays and anniversaries as we can keep track of, and to say some

Humility and Trust

To be frank, I don't know if I want to trust you. I've trusted people before, and some of them betrayed me, gossiped, and made fun of me. Some of them abandoned me, just hung me out to dry and walked away. So if I ask you to pray about something, or open up and tell you about my problems, what will you do? Or maybe this is you, asking me